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Alabama Routs Notre Dame 42-14 to Win Title

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – This is either getting incredibly boring or it’s the ride of a lifetime. It depends on which side of the Tide you’re surfing.

Alabama wrapped up its 10th national championship of the wire service era, winning its third national championship in four years with a 42-14 thrashing of No. 1 Notre Dame in the BCS title game. The Tide became the third program in history to win three in four years, the first team to do it in 15 years.

Hungry Notre Dame fans showed up among the largest Sun Life Stadium crowd in history (80,120). Its team, not so much. Four seconds into the second quarter, Alabama had as many points (21) as ND had given up in the last two months. Alabama’s 92 rushing yards at the end of the first quarter equaled ND’s season average per game.

The margin of victory was the second-largest in a BCS title game.

In the process, the SEC won its ongoing-record seventh consecutive championship. It was complete domination from the best team in the best conference. The plucky Irish defense that had come up big so many times was pushed around by an Alabama offense that was bigger, faster and stronger. The defense that was No. 1 in scoring defense gave up the most points in Notre Dame’s bowl history.

On the other side, an Alabama defense that lost five NFL draft choices – three of them first-round picks – tore Notre Dame apart. The Tide offensive line, perhaps the greatest in the country, pushed around a Notre Dame line hat sported three 300-pounders – Louis Nix, Kapron Lewis-Moore and Stephon Tuitt.

The game was effectively over at halftime with Alabama leading 28-0. Forgotten was Bama’s 21-10 deficit in the third quarter of last month’s SEC title game. Since that point the Tide has outscored their opponent 64-21.

Sadly for college football, there are no challengers on the horizon. Perhaps only historically. Those Huskers’ teams are considered one of the greatest teams of all time. Alabama now has to be considered in the same conversation. The 49 wins by the Bama seniors match the record set by Nebraska in 1997. Bama’s 61 wins since 2008 also lead college football.